Fight
by Elsewhere723
Summary: It started with a fight. It ended with a kiss.


It started as a fight, like most of their conversations do. Scott and Stile winced as each insult was said and each hit taken (with Lydia doing the hitting). It was unorthodox, but it was what worked between them. Derek was giving Lydia what she needed (whether that included a punching bag or confidant). He didn't coddle her. He knew that wasn't what Lydia Martin needed. He pushed her to her breaking point so she would do just that…break.

She was strong (and Derek wasn't just talking about her right hook). She screamed when Allison died. She screamed when Aiden died. But not once did he see her shed a tear. Not at Allison's funeral and not when she said an emotional goodbye as Ethan left town.

"I hate you." Lydia screamed at the wolf. "Why are you even here? To make fun of poor Lydia? Well, you know what, it's too late. I don't think you could make me feel any worse." Derek gave the boys in the room a look that said, 'We'll be okay'. They always were. Derek waited until he heard them leave the Martin house.

"You know why I'm here."

"Oh yea, I forgot, the popular girl needs a babysitter to make sure she doesn't off herself."

"You're wrong. I know you're too strong for that. I also know you would never leave your friends to pick up the pieces."

"Allison did. She left us here with no way to cope without her. Maybe it's selfish, but I blame her. I blame her for dying. I blame her not being here. I blame her for coming after me."

"She loved you. You shouldn't blame her for that."

"That's the sad truth. I don't blame her. I blame me."

There it was, the truth Derek had been searching for. He needed Lydia to break. They all did. Because once she broke down the wall surrounding her prefect life she would be able to rebuild a new one, a better one. He knew the one way to get her to let go of all her emotions. He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. The little dance had come full circle as Derek gently placed a kiss on her lips.

It ended with a kiss, like most of their conversations do. Between the hate and endless frustration of the red head Derek wouldn't change a damn thing. It may not be much, but to his pack he was helping in a way only he could. Without realizing it Scott gave him a purpose by asking him to help Lydia. He didn't spare he feelings, but he also wasn't hurtful. He was there when she needed to punch, hit, or slap someone. He was there when she needed the harsh truth, to cry, or to admit the truth.

Someone was always there when a fight broke out between the two over the stupidest thing. No one was there when Lydia broke down. Derek respected her too much for that. He told himself that Lydia put the weight of her friend's on her shoulders. And that it would take some time for her to lose her armor in front of the world.

He knew he was selfish and wanted to be the only one to know that vulnerable part of her. If only for a little while. No one knew what went on when it was just Lydia and Derek. No one thought to ask. It was just Lydia and Derek.

Derek watched from the darkness in case Lydia ever needed him (and he could tell in an instant). What shocked the wolf was when he noticed the young girl outside of the police station and it wasn't his comfort she craved. As the deputy put his arm around Lydia she opened up to him as easily and she did to Derek after a verbal sparring match. (Between the deputy and Lydia there were a lot less insults thrown out).

One day out of the blue, Derek asked Scott if he had seen Lydia lately. (Let's face it Scott didn't know who he was trying to fool) Derek tried to hold his tongue when Scott told him Lydia was seen spending time with a certain deputy. The breaking moment was when Scott mentioned a date (the end result was being thrown across the room).

Derek growled as he heard his cell phone ringing. After a week of restless sleep-he had Lydia to blame for that-he finally was able to rest. He saw Lydia's name flash across the screen and became on high alert.

"Hello?"

"Derek? I need a ride." Derek didn't question the banshee at-three in the morning-as he glanced at the time. Lydia's voice sounded so raw like she had been crying all night-more like screaming Derek would later find out.

No less than 10 minutes later and Derek saw Lydia in the front seat of the Sheriff's car. Thanks to the Sheriff, Derek made his way through the crime scene tape and came to a stop to stand beside the Sheriff.

"She found a body." That was all the Sheriff needed to say for Derek to grasp the situation. "Parrish offered to give her a lift home, but she wouldn't go anywhere until you showed up." Derek felt guilty of the fact that it was him-not the deputy-that Lydia wanted….needed. The deputy was safe. He was anything but. Derek thanked the Sheriff and turned his attention to the young woman in the car.

Derek gently opened the door so carefully that he didn't startle Lydia who seemed to be in a trance. As quiet as he was Lydia had a sixth sense when it came to Derek Hale. She looked at him with unshed tears and tried to smile. That was Lydia, the strongest of them all without supernatural abilities.

The walk to Derek's car was silent. The ride to Lydia's house was silent. The walk to Lydia's room was silent. Derek knew it was his job to break the silence. If he didn't then Lydia would keep it in. And they knew what would happened if she kept it in.

"You didn't want a ride home from your boyfriend the cop?" Derek tried to provoke a response to prevent her from becoming catatonic. The response wasn't what he expected. "He had a job to do." Derek saw the corners of her pink lips almost curve into a smile.

"I'm tired of fighting, Derek." Lydia yawned and sat on her bed. "I don't know if I have any fight left in me." Derek almost panicked when he Lydia was about to cry. For as long as he had known her he had never seen her cry. He took a seat beside the banshee.

"You don't have to, I think I have enough for the both of us." Derek smiled and for the first time in a while Lydia smiled back.

It started with a kiss, unlike all their conversations. It was soft then it grew to feral, out of control. Lydia needed Derek. Derek needed Lydia. Underneath all the preconceived ideas it came to one basic animal instinct….survival.

Lydia calmed the wolf in Derek like only she could. She wasn't there to soothe his ego. But she was there to let him know that everything was going to be alright. When her Derek senses were tingling she would come over with a movie and a pizza so he wouldn't be lonely. They were argue over the movie. They both knew it didn't matter. Because of her nightmares Lydia would fall asleep halfway through the movie in the one place she felt safe, Derek's arms.

Derek calmed the banshee in Lydia like only he could (including the deputy). He helped her control the power in her. He taught her to fight for the great life he knew she deserved. He held her until her voice was raw from screaming. He was there when she found the bodies and she was also there when she saved them.

He wouldn't admit it, but he missed her like crazy when she went to college. Even though it was barely an hour away. He stayed on the phone with her every night until she passed out. Then answered the phone at three in the morning when she had a nightmare.

Between the first kiss and the last there were some in between. Between the first blow out fight ( for which they didn't talk until two weeks later) and their last, Lydia and Derek would be the first to admit that they had some knockout fights.

Scott said it was two Alpha personalities (she mentally insulted Scott for calling her a wolf). Stiles said it was that neither liked being wrong or being told what to do (so she kind of agreed with Stiles for once). Kira just knew when glass was breaking and being thrown (Ex: Lydia throwing a vase at Derek's head) that it was time for her to leave.

Lydia had to admit though, Malia said it best, "I think it's sexual tension."

Through the years their conversation started one way and ended another. The one thing Derek and Lydia could count on was that there were always there for each other. No matter who they were with, if they were together, if they had a fight, or if they hadn't spoken in a while, that any time they called the other would come running.

Who would thought? The banshee and the Werewolf.


End file.
